


Liam's New Life

by Slytherinfixation



Series: Welcome to the Pack [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Scott McCall, Alpha/Beta, Beta Derek Hale, Beta Liam, M/M, Pack Dynamics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-13
Updated: 2014-08-20
Packaged: 2018-02-13 00:16:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2129841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Slytherinfixation/pseuds/Slytherinfixation
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's that moment, Scott standing over him with blood red eyes in the middle of the woods, which begins the changes in Liam as a person and, inevitably, leads to him falling in love with his Alpha.</p><p>Can be read without reading Part 1 of the series.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 4x06

While it could be argued that it was Scott’s bite that changed Liam’s life, Liam himself will disagree. The bite had changed his body, sure, but it took a while for the rest of him to catch up. It’s at that moment, Scott standing over him with blood red eyes in the middle of the woods, which begins the changes in him as a person.

Once Liam has calmed down, they sit down together under the full moon and Scott begins to explain. He begins with his own transformation, gets caught up in a tangent about alphas, betas and omegas along the way, and ends with the death of the man who bit him. The way he talks about Peter Hale – who actually came back from the dead shortly after he was killed – makes Liam grateful that he was bitten as a last resort and wasn’t then abandoned by his alpha.

Liam will never admit it but he’s glad he’s not alone in this, that he has this older boy looking out for him. It helps of course that Liam has wanted to be friends with Scott since the moment he first laid eyes on him.

\---

When Liam first tells Mason his plans to try out for the lacrosse team, his best friend makes a point of introducing him to most of the players. The one who stands out, of course, is the team captain, the only player Mason refuses to approach, even in the middle of a crowded hallway. Instead, he simply points him out.

“That’s Scott McCall,” Mason murmurs, elbowing Liam in the side. “He’s been Captain since he was a sophomore.” 

Liam curiously follows his subtle gesturing. There’s a group of five students – either juniors or seniors by the looks of them – heading down the hallway in their general direction. Of the three girls, one is strawberry blond, one of them distinctly Asian in appearance, and the other a tall brunette. Of the two boys, one of them is lanky, waving his arms madly as he tells the other boy a joke. It’s the second of the two that catches Liam’s attention.

He’s the same height as his friend but with shoulders almost twice as wide, his biceps far more pronounced. He has a head of black hair cut in a way that makes his cheekbones stand out attractively. His mouth is curled up in amusement as his friend talks, dodging away from his wild movements with practiced ease.

Liam knows just from looking at him that this must be Scott McCall. He can’t imagine the flailing boy beside him would be anything but a complete disaster on the lacrosse field.

He turns out to be right about both.

That first training season, he wants nothing more than to impress McCall. Before, that is, he sees the older boy completely miss the net every time he throws a ball. Not even his clear skills in defence counteract his throws enough to make him captain, let alone to justify some of the other player’s praises of their captains skill.

In hospital with a possibly broken leg, he decides trying to impress the older boy was one of the stupidest things he’s ever done.

\---

When Liam’s first full moon is over, he and Scott return to the boathouse where Kira is waiting anxiously for their return. When she sees them both in one piece, she doesn’t hang around for long, saying something about Lydia and the party going on back at the house.

Looking at the window he broke and Scott’s determination that they never hurt anyone makes Liam far too embarrassed to tell him the truth. Not about what he did and certainly not about his I.E.D..

Liam spends the whole weekend trying to keep himself calm enough to not wolf out at a few simple words from his mum. Scott calls twice on both days and the two of them check in with each other via text every hour or so. Liam’s never had someone so concerned about him and while the constant monitoring is annoying it’s also kind of reassuring.

It’s not until Monday morning after a work out with Mason spent trying to blow off steam that he finally snaps. Hearing that they’ll be playing his old school is bad enough. Having some random guy who looks far too old to be in high school break his lacrosse stick is the last straw. Before he consciously thinks about it, he’s leaping at him, claws out and teeth bared.

Scott’s voice reaches him as though from far away but he still turns to look at him almost immediately. Seeing his expression makes Liam calm down on instinct.

“You’re right,” the man says. “He is angry.”

Liam tenses again only for the man to let him go. Finding out Scott hadn’t let this man – whoever the hell he is – actually break his stick makes his angry words die in his throat. Instead, he turns to glare at the older man until the bell rings and Scott orders him to class.

He tries his best to remain calm and be civil to his old school friend only to let it get the better of him at the last minute. He can feel blood pooling in his palm from where his claws are digging into painfully into his palm when Scott is suddenly there, pulling him away. Stilinski is saying something but it’s lost to the pounding in Liam’s head.

Then Scott’s pulling him away and the next thing he’s aware of is freezing cold water being poured all over him. It takes a long few minutes for him to calm down enough to get them to stop.

Then Liam’s sitting on the floor and telling them the truth about getting kicked out of Devenford Prep. Stilinski, as usual, is a total ass about the whole thing but Scott crouches down in front of him the same way he did out in the forest. He’s confessing to having I.E.D. before he can change his mind.

Then Scott’s asking him to bail out of the game and that’s the last thing Liam wants.

“I can do this,” he tells the older boy earnestly. “Especially if you’re there.”

Stilinski reacts like he’s surrounded by idiots but both Scott and Liam are ignoring him. Then Scott’s telling him about some guy who died after delivering a keg to Lydia’s party and Liam hesitates. His new friendship with Garrett isn’t worth lying to Scott, though, so he tells him all he knows about the other boy.

Liam spends the rest of the day up to the game avoiding everyone except Scott and his Pack. He’s silent in the locker room as the other players shout and throw things at each other, reacting only when Scott places a hand on the back of his neck.

“Come on,” he says, urging him outside and towards the field. Liam sees Mason on the sideline but hesitates until Scott releases his hold on Liam’s neck, pushing him slightly in Mason’s direction.

Liam doesn’t understand why Scott would want him near Mason when he’s still clearly angry until Mason has him laughing despite that. Liam thinks back to Scott’s stories about his own first few weeks as a werewolf and wonders if this is what he meant by Stilinski always being there for him. Despite being an inconsiderate ass most of the time, Liam supposes he can be funny on occasion.

Both older boys are there to stop him from attacking his old teammates. Not minutes later, Liam’s colliding with Brett and both of them end up groaning on ground. Liam’s arm hurts even more than his leg did when Scott and Stilinski broke it. Scott pushes it back into place and then worries that he might have been cut by Garrett.

It’s not until Stilinski gets off the phone with Malia that they realise it wasn’t Liam he was aiming for after all. Liam finds his Alpha just moments after Stilinski does, still standing over Violet’s unconscious form. Scott asks him to help get Brett out of there and is on the phone a moment later calling someone else for help. 

By the time Liam and Stilinski get Brett out the back way, the guy who broke his lacrosse stick is waiting for them by Stilinski’s jeep. The two of them disappear with Brett to someone they apparently think will help. Liam returns to Scott just in time to see the first of the police cars arriving. Liam sheds his lacrosse gear and then goes looking for Kira when Scott asks him to.

When Liam comes back, he finds Scott talking to a tall man in a suit, an FBI badge hanging from his hip. Liam hesitates when he realises this is his Alpha’s dad, having heard snippets of the story surrounding Scott’s relationship with him. 

When the Sheriff and one of the deputies brings Violet out of the locker room, Liam’s insides twist at the look she shoots at Scott on the way passed. Then they’re finding out that both Violet and Garrett are on the FBI’s list of known professional killers and Liam’s even more freaked out than before.

Despite his reservations, Liam goes running with Mason the next morning. He wishes he hadn’t when he wakes up to find himself at the bottom of a well. He’s almost given up hope of anyone – of Scott – finding him when suddenly he’s there, pulling him out of the well and straight into a warm hug.

When Liam can stand mostly on his own, Scott helps him to the nearest road where they find a car idling, waiting for them. A tall man with a beard – not Derek Hale – steps out of the car to great them. 

“We’ve got to get him to Deaton,” Scott says. The other man simply nods, waiting until Scott has gotten situated in the back seat before helping him lie Liam down across the back seat, his head in Scott’s lap.

Liam feels himself drifting, the feeling of the car’s movement and Scott running a hand through his hair calming him. Soon, though, he’s shivering uncontrollably and he’s very clearly feeling the effects of the wolfsbane. When they reach their destination, Scott carries him inside, laying him down on a cold, hard table.

Liam is conscious enough to feel Scott move his mostly numb arms to get his shirt off and then there’s a sharp pain in his chest. His body continues to shake, a small whimper escaping, until he feels what he’s sure is Scott’s hand brush his forehead. As the pain leaves and the shaking stops, he falls into darkness.


	2. Waking Up

Liam wakes up in an unfamiliar bed, warmer than he’s should be at this time of year. He shifts slightly in contentment, burrowing further into the pillows, hesitating when he realises that the weight on his hip isn’t a blanket. He opens his eyes, staring at Scott’s face not inches from his own. He’s got Liam pulled tightly against his side, an arm curled around waist with a hand sitting firmly on Liam’s opposite hip.

“You're awake,” Scott notes without opening his eyes.

Liam startles slightly but relaxes when Scott doesn’t otherwise move.

“Yeah,” Liam says, staring at the Alpha who’d rescued him, possibly spent all day looking for him if the look on his face at the well had been indication. “How’d you find me?”

Scott cracked one eye open to look at him, “You howled.”

Liam blinked, “I did?

“Mmhmm,” Scott hummed, looking at Liam with both eyes now. “It’s how wolves signal their location to their pack. In situations like that you’ll usually do it on instinct but I’ll teach you how to do it on purpose too.”

Liam shuddered at the thought of never having been found. Scott’s arm tightened before he moved to pull away as though realising how close they were. An involuntary whimper left Liam’s throat and Scott rolled back towards him immediately.

“Hey, I’m not going far,” he said, pulling Liam slightly on top of him. “I’m just going to the bathroom.”

Liam nodded into Scott’s neck.

“Both your parents and Mason are waiting for you to call them,” Scott said softly. “You can call them if you like – your phone is on the bedside table.”

Liam nodded, leaning up to let Scott slide out from underneath him. 

“What do they know about yesterday?” Liam wonders.

“Not a lot,” Scott admits as he picks up a set of clothes around the room. “But the Sheriff’s department got involved in the whole thing. So, by the time we get to school everyone will probably know Garrett kidnapped you in an attempt to get Violet back. They also probably know by now that they’re both dead.”

“Dead?” Liam asked, startled.

Scott grimaced, “Yeah.”

“How…?”

“You don’t need to know the details,” Scott says. “The official statement is that they were shot by the Sheriff. That’s all anyone needs to know.”

“Do my parents…”

Scott glances over, “Know about the well? No.”

Liam blows out a breath, leaning back against the pillows to look up at the ceiling. The movement makes Scott’s scent even more prominent around him, helps him relax.

“Hey,” Scott says softly, placing a hand on Liam’s ankle. “If you don’t want to talk to me about it, you don’t have to, but if you need someone, I'm here, yeah?”

Liam shut his eyes and nods. Scott tapped his ankle once and then shut the door on the way out. After hesitating only a moment, Liam reachs for his phone and dials Mason’s number.

He picks up on the third ring with a grumpy, “What?”

“Hey, Mase,” Liam greets, amused despite everything.

“Liam! What the hell happened yesterday?”

“You’ll probably hear about it at school anyway,” Liam sighs. “Garrett’s dead.”

“What?” Mason asks, his voice odd.

“He kidnapped me,” Liam admits, staring blankly up at the ceiling, an odd twist in his gut. “Tried to use me as leverage to get Violet back.” 

“Oh my god,” Mason says, sounding both shocked and horrified. “How did he…?”

“Shot by Sheriff Stilinski. Violet too,” Liam repeats automatically, silently thankful Scott hadn’t told him the gory details. As much as Liam doesn’t like to think about, he knows werewolves can be violent, has seen it first hand, and wonders if Scott might’ve done something in his rage. Though, admittedly, he’s yet to see Scott actually get angry enough to shift.

“Oh god,” Mason says on the other end of the phone, drawing him back to reality.

“Liam?”

Liam turns to the door where Scott has come back into the room, wearing jeans but no shirt. Liam automatically moves the phone to cover the receiver.

“That Mason?” Scott asks, stepping forward to place his pyjama pants by the side of the bed.

“Yeah,” Liam admits sheepishly, basking in the feeling of the other boy’s hand when it lands briefly in his hair. “You said I could –“

“Hey, it’s fine,” Scott says, giving his hair a slight tug. “I’ll be down in the kitchen when you’re done, yeah?”

“Okay,” Liam says, watching him leave and physically feeling both his absence and the loss of the hand in his hair.

It takes a moment to remember that he’s still on the phone, “Mason?”

“I’m here,” the other boy replies.

“Look, I’ll see you at school later, yeah?”

“Yeah, okay,” Mason says. “Was that Scott McCall?”

Liam hesitates but then admits, “Yeah.”

“What’s he doing at your place so early in the morning?” Mason asks.

“He’s not. I spent the night at his place,” Liam says, feeling the guilt of keeping so much from his best friend. “Look, I’ll talk to you later, alright?”

He hangs up before Mason can ask any more questions.

\---

When Liam’s finished talking to his worried parents, agreeing to stop by at least to grab a change of clothes before heading to school, he heads down to the kitchen.

“Where’s your mum?” Liam wonders as he watches Scott flip pancakes.

“Asleep,” Scott says, gesturing Liam towards one of the stools in the middle of the room. “She worked the late shift last night – didn’t get in til almost four.”

“You usually spend your nights alone?” Liam wonders as he takes a seat, leaning forward across the table.

Scott shrugs, placing a jar of maple syrup in front of Liam followed by a large plate of pancakes.

“Not since dad came back,” he admits as he takes his own seat, grabbing two plates on the way. “But well…”

“What?” Liam asks, hesitating with a fork halfway to his mouth when he sees Scott’s expression.

Scott sighs, “My dad’s in the hospital. He got attacked yesterday while trying to transport Violet to a new location. He’ll be fine but your dad wanted to keep him overnight for observation.”

“Anything else happen while I was…”

Liam can’t bring himself to finish.

Scott sighs again, “Stiles’ dad’s in the hospital with mine and Lydia unlocked the third part of the dead pool.”

He says the last bit really fast like he wants Liam to forget he said it.

“I’m on it.”

“Yeah,” Scott admits, watching him closely.

“We knew I would be,” Liam reminds him.

“Doesn’t make it any better,” Scott says. “I’m the one who got you into this mess in the first place and –“

“You saved me from falling several stories off a roof,” Liam cuts him off. “You had no other choice.”

“And it could have been avoided all together if I hadn’t got so worried about you stealing the captaincy and landed you in the hospital in the first place.”

“You gave me a way to protect myself,” Liam says, filing the fact that Scott had felt threatened by him away for later. “And you’ve done nothing but protect me yourself ever since.”

Scott stares for a long moment, “Finish your pancakes. I’m teaching you how to howl.” 

\---

Liam’s just got the hang of it when Stiles arrives. He’s pulled up in his jeep on the road beside the park he and Scott are in. Liam’s werewolf powers are so close to the forefront of his mind that he hears him coming from a mile away – literally. Malia is in the passenger seat with an odd expression on her face when the two of them climb into the back seat.

“What?” Scott asks.

“I could hear you two howling from Stiles’ place,” she admits.

“That’s what happens when you’re part of a pack,” Stiles says. “You tune into the sound of each other’s howls.”

Scott leans forward, clapping a hand on Stiles shoulder for a long moment before he sits back. Liam gets the impression there’s a story there but doesn’t ask.

Liam gives Stiles directions to his place, leaving him and Malia in the jeep as he and Scott head up to the house. Fifteen minutes later, ten of which was spent convincing his parents he's fine, they're back in the car and heading for school.

When they get there, Liam follows Scott out his door rather than out the other side, pulling his backpack over his shoulder once his feet are on the ground.

Liam turns to close the door behind him, momentarily forgetting about werewolf strength and accidentally slamming it.

“Hey!” Stiles yells angrily as he climbs out himself. “Watch the jeep, kid! It doesn’t have supernatural healing.”

Liam feels a smirk forming on his face – can’t help it around Stiles’ remarks – but doesn’t speak as Scott suddenly steps forward. His hand wraps around the back of Liam’s neck, propelling the younger boy forward. Liam doesn’t mind it, especially when Scott then wraps his whole arm around his shoulders, pulling him into his side.

Liam curls involuntarily towards him, letting the older boy lead him up the path.

Liam feels himself smile as he spots Mason standing in the middle of the path, watching them curiously, “Hey Mason.”

“How you feeling?” the other boy wonders just as Lydia and Kira appear, having arrived not far behind them.

Liam glances away from his friend – away from everybody – and down at his shoes at the question. Remembering Scott’s words earlier this morning make him move even closer to him but he shrugs and replies with, “I’m fine.”

In response to his shuffling closer, Scott’s hand begins rubbing soothing circles into Liam’s shoulder. Liam feels himself relax into the gesture.

The bell rings and Liam whimpers at the sudden realisation that he and Scott are going to have to separate for the first time since the older boy found him. The sound makes Scott pull him even closer.

“It’ll be alright,” Scott says directly into Liam’s ear. “Just howl if you need me.”

Liam nods, calming down slightly at the reminder. Scott’s arm falls away but he doesn’t step away until Liam has already done so by his own power.

“I’ll see you at lunch, Liam,” Scott says, moving away with the other members of their pack, but not before acknowledging Liam’s friend. “Mason.”

“You sure you're alright?” Mason asks as soon as they’re gone.

Liam glances over at him, taking a deep, final breath of Scott’s overpowering scent, before answering, “Yeah.”

Mason looks sceptical but nods and follows the Liam to class without bringing it up again.


	3. Anchors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scott and Liam finally talk about the true reason they've both been so attached lately - it doesn't go quite as either of them hoped.

From the moment he leaves Scott’s side, Liam feels off, twitchy almost, like all he wants to do is make his way back. After sitting through first period like that, he walks out into the hallway with every intention of finding Scott to make that feeling go away. Halfway there, he runs into Lydia.

“Holding up alright?” she asks, a small smile on her face. She curves an arm around his arm and he smells her perfume as it washes over him. While it’s not as all consuming as Scott’s more woodsy scent, it calms him down none the less.

“I’m good,” Liam says, returning her smile. She pats his arm once before continuing on to class.

He gets through second period in the same way, passing Malia in the hallway in the next break. She doesn’t touch him or even speak like Lydia did but she pauses long enough to smile at him. Her scent is enough to calm him down in the same way Lydia was and continues to his next class feeling much better. He makes it to lunch like this, passing his new junior friends in the hallways to make himself calm down rather than chase down Scott.

When the bell rings for lunch, Mason falls in beside him and they head towards the cafeteria. Scott and the others find them in the middle of a crowded corridor and Liam reacts on instinct, moving to wrap his arms around Scott. The older boy wraps an arm around him in return and Liam feels his nose press into his hair.

Comfort by scent must be a werewolf thing, Liam decides.

The moment is ruined when Stiles clears his throat, reminding Alpha and Beta that Mason is still standing nearby.

“You’re welcome to join us,” Scott tells Mason.

“You really think that’s a good idea?” Malia asks.

Lydia elbows her sharply in the ribs.

“What?” the brunette asks.

Liam notices Mason’s awkward shifting and glances up at Scott, “He can come?”

“If you want him to,” Scott replies.

Liam nods, curling automatically back into his warmth. He doesn’t realise he’s been holding on so long until Scott releases him with a small nudge forward. He turns to find Kira and Lydia leading Mason ahead of him and muses that if Mason weren’t gay he’d be thanking him for all the older girls who are suddenly paying him attention.

\---

Scott and the others manage to keep Liam fairly clam through the rest of the school week by crossing his path constantly between classes. On Saturday, however, the whole lot of them have plans so Liam is left to his own devices. He invites Mason over both because he’s kind of missing his friend and in hopes of distracting himself from the feeling he still gets when he’s away from Scott for too long.

The other boy comes over that day but doesn’t spend a great deal of time there before Liam registers his stepfather’s rapidly beating heart. Not long after, the three of them are headed to the high school where the whole place is under quarantine.

“How long have they been in there?” Liam demands when his stepfather mentions that it’s been going on for a while.

He hesitates.

“How long?” Liam demands, feeling his wolf coming to the surface. He squeezes his eyes shut in hopes they won’t see his glowing eyes.

“Almost an hour.”

Liam feels his angry rise up into a devastated sound. He hurries away from the other two, hoping both to calm down and stop them from seeing his werewolf features. Liam presses his fists and forehead into a tree and takes deep breaths.

“Liam –“

Liam stiffens, hoping he won’t come any closer.

“Liam?”

Liam recognises the voice immediately, crying out in relief as he moves to bury his nose in Lydia’s neck. Her scent calms him down and the tightness of her arms around him suggests she’s just as relieved to see him.

“The others?”

Liam can feel her body shake at the question.

“They’re inside,” she confirms.

Liam feels himself shudder, thinking about Scott, Kira, Malia and even Stiles in there, possibly suffering from a highly deadly disease.

“How bad is it?” Liam finds himself asking.

“If it continues its current rate of progression they’ll be dead by nightfall.”

Liam pulls out of her arms to avoid hurting her and turns away from them all to ensure they can’t see his growing canines.

“Liam –“ his stepfather tries.

“You think Scott wants to see you like this when he comes out of there?” Lydia asks, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. “You don’t think he’s got enough to worry about with Stiles, Kira and Malia in there with him? You think he isn’t glad that you and I weren’t in there too? Do you want him to come out of there to find you a wreck?”

Liam thinks about Scott’s disappointed face and his anger – and his wolf-like features – fade away at the thought. He turns back to face them as the last of his features fade back to normal.

“What can we do?” he asks, determined to spend this time finding a way to help Scott instead of sitting here worrying about him.

\---

The words ‘you can go inside now’ have both Liam and Lydia shooting to their feet. Lydia is one of the first inside but Liam’s stepfather stops him from following.

“Let them see their families first,” he says.

Liam wants desperately to tell him that he and Scott are far more than family but a familiar scent reaching him on the wind makes him turn to look.

Derek Hale is heading towards them from the parking lot, his hands buried deep in his leather jacket pockets.

“You seen them yet?” he asks Liam when he gets close enough.

Liam shakes his head in response, lowering his head slightly before a man who, for all intents and purposes, is considered a part of Scott’s pack.

“He’ll be fine,” Derek says, reaching out to place a hand on Liam’s head. “They all will. We found a cure in time.”

Liam’s head snaps back up, knocking the older man’s hand away in the process, “Yeah?”

Derek nods but turns away almost immediately. Malia has just exited the front doors of the school and both Derek and Liam move to greet her. She walks right passed them without acknowledging them.

“Malia!”

Kira exits next, chasing after the other girl but spots Derek and Liam and comes over to greet them instead.

“Something wrong?” Derek frowns.

“Later,” she responds, catching sight of Mason and Liam’s stepfather behind them.

Stiles and Scott exit the school than, distracting them all.

Once again, Liam feels instinct take over and moves immediately to bury his face in Scott’s shoulder. Scott’s arms wrap back around him.

Liam hears Stiles sarcastic, “It’s good to see you too, Liam,” but ignores him in favour of savouring Scott’s scent.

“Hey, hey,” Scott says in Liam’s ear, running a hand through the younger boy’s hair. “It’s okay. We’re fine. I’m fine.”

Liam nods at his words but doesn’t let go. Scott only pulls him in tighter.  
\---

It’s not until Scott tries to leave after dropping Liam home later that night that it becomes apparent he’s even more reluctant to let him go than he has been for the passed week.

“I wanted to talk to you anyway,” Scott says when Liam grabs hold of his arm and doesn’t let go. “Now’s as good a time as any, I guess.”

“Talk to me about what?” Liam asks, tracing patterns along Scott’s forearm now that the other boy isn’t moving to leave the couch they're both occupying.

“The way you can’t seem to go more than a few hours without seeing me,” he replies, giving a slight tug on his arm in emphasis. Liam pauses, looking up at the older boy. “It’s not a werewolf thing, Liam. It’s a side effect of you almost dying.”

“You rescued me,” Liam says.

“Exactly,” Scott frowns at him. “I saved you from almost dying and you’ve been unable to spend time without me ever since.”

“But it’s not just you,” Liam protests. “It’s the rest of the Pack as well.”

Scott pulls his arm free and wraps his hand around the back of Liam’s neck, pulling him to look him in the eye, “You don’t need physical contact with them the way you seem to with me.”

“It’s their scents,” Liam admits. “They’re calming.”

Scott’s eyes suddenly jump to the hand he has around Liam’s neck.

“Oh.”

“What?” Liam frowns.

Scott sighs, “I’m sure you’ve noticed I do this a lot.”

He squeezes his hand to indicate what he means.

“Yeah,” Liam says. “So?”

“Alpha’s are instinctually territorial creatures,” Scott explains, his hand sliding up and down Liam’s neck in comfort. “We mark our Pack members with our scent to warn others off. I do it by placing a hand on your neck every now and then – makes you smell like me, like Pack.”

“So it’s your smell on them that I find comforting?”

“Probably,” Scott shrugs. “I mean, you calm down just from Stiles scent and, as far as I can tell, you don’t particularly like him.”

Liam shrugs sheepishly, feeling kind of bad that Scott has noticed his dislike of the older boy’s best friend.

“So you find my scent comforting,” Scott hedges. “Anything else you find comforting or calming?”

Liam shrugs and turns away, knocking Scott’s hand away in the process.

“Liam.”

“Your voice.”

“My voice,” Scott repeats in reply. “How does that help?”

“When I get angry,” Liam admitted softly, turning back to look at Scott briefly before looking down at the couch between them. “Hearing your voice or smelling your scent calms me down.”

Scott stares at him.

“What?” Liam demands self-consciously.

“I’m your anchor,” Scott realised.

Liam deflates, “Yeah.”

“Why me?” Scott wonders.

Liam shrugs and looks away again.

“You don’t pick just anyone to be your anchor,” Scott prompts.

“You’re my Alpha,” Liam reminds him, turning back. “You’re hardly ‘just anyone’.”

Scott sighs and looks away, “I’ve told you about Peter – about how I never had an Alpha of my own. I thought this whole scenting thing might be Alpha related so I asked Derek. He had three Betas. None of them ever latched onto him like you have to me.”

Liam throws his hands up, “Why is it so hard to believe that I’d look up to you? I’ve wanted to impress you since the day Mason pointed you out to me in a crowded hallway!”

Scott blinks, “What?”

“All I wanted to do was impress you at tryouts,” Liam says heatedly. “All I wanted to do was catch your attention.”

“Why?”

“Because I thought you were cool!”

Scott can’t help but laugh at Liam’s exasperated face, “Changed your mind?”

“That’s the thing,” Liam says. “Nothing has changed. I still want to impress you as much now as I did that day.”

Scott looks genuinely taken aback, “Why?”

Liam looks away again, “Look, I…”

“Liam,” Scott says softly, reaching for the other boy’s shoulder. “What is it?”

Liam’s heart is pounding in his chest and he knows Scott can hear it.

“You said it yourself,” Liam mutters. “You don’t pick just anyone to be your anchor – Alpha or not.”

The two of them stare at each other for a long, silent moment, Scott in confusion and Liam begging the older boy not to make him say it. Scott’s nostrils flare suddenly and Liam remembers him saying that he’d been training with Derek to learn to smell emotions. Scott’s eyes widen and Liam knows he’s been caught.

“Oh, god,” Scott says, running a hand down his face. “And I went and made you my Beta.”

Liam shies away, hurt.

Scott’s eyes widen at the move, “That – that came out wrong.”

Liam moves away.

“Liam,” Scott growls, his eyes going red. Liam thinks Scott looks just as surprised as him at the action, as though he’d done so simply on instinct but he continues anyway. “The only part of making you my Beta that I hate is that I ruined your life in the process. You should have had a choice, should have been able to live out a normal life, and I will never forgive myself for taking that away from you or for bringing you into this mess. But I will never be ashamed of you being my Beta, alright?”

Liam nods at the ferocity of his words.

Scott sighs, his eyes returning to normal. He reaches out a hand then and Liam moves automatically towards him, lets him rest a hand on the back of his neck again.

“It’s comforting for you too, isn’t it?” Liam notes.

Scott nods, his hand moving up and down again, rubbing Liam’s neck softly. Then, his hand keeps going down passed his shoulders, down his spine and to Liam’s lower back. He uses that hand to pull Liam even closer.

“I…” Scott takes a deep breath. “You know that I just broke up with Kira.”

Liam nods.

“I broke up with her because it wasn’t fair to her,” Scott continues. “Not fair to her for two reasons. One of them is something we tend not to talk about.”

Liam glances up at him curiously.

“About three months ago, I lost a very close friend of mine,” he admits softly. “Her name was Allison and, for a long time after I was turned, she was my anchor.”

Liam stares at his watering eyes in shock.

“By the time I lost her, she and I had been broken up for months – she was dating someone else and I’d just met Kira – but, in the back of our minds, I think we’d both always planned on ending up back together.”

Scott closed his eyes then, took a deep breath and then continued.

“When Kira and I got together, I don’t think I was still really over Allison and that wasn’t fair to either of us,” Scott said. "It wasn’t until you came along that I really realised that I hadn’t been over her.”

“Me?” Liam asks in surprise, sitting up slightly.

Scott meets his eyes squarely, “You made me realise that I’d forgotten what falling in love felt like.”

Liam’s eyes widened, “Are you saying -?”

“Yes,” Scott said softly, moving so that their foreheads are touching and his hand was in the younger boy’s hair. “But I will not ask you to wait for me.”

“Wait for you?” Liam repeats blankly, drawing his eyes from the older boy’s lips to meet his own. “What are you talking about?”

“Just as it was unfair to Kira, it would be unfair to you,” Scott says softly, pulling away slightly and closing his eyes as though in pain. “I need time to grieve and to sort myself out – especially with all that’s been going on lately. I need to learn how to be a good Alpha without this getting in the middle.”

Liam pulls away angrily, rubbing at his eyes and refusing to shed a single tear, “And I don’t get a say in this?”

“Liam –“

Liam stands up angrily, pulling entirely away from the other boy, “Do whatever it is you need to do, Scott, but when you’re done, I’ll still be here. Understood?”

“I just said I wasn’t going to ask you to –“

“I don’t care whether you’re asking or not,” Liam snaps, feeling his eyes flash a brilliant yellow. “This feeling isn’t going away any time soon.”

Scott sighs, “You’re fifteen, Liam. You’ll move on in no time.”

“Get out.”

Scott looks up in surprise, “What?”

“Get out,” Liam snapped again. “I can’t – I can’t even look at you without wanting to hit you right now.”

Scott did as asked without hesitation. When he was gone, Liam slid down the front door of his house and remained there until his mum came home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a more detailed version of what happened during the whole disease/quarantine episode in the first part of this series for anyone who hasn't read it yet :D
> 
> Thanks for reading :D
> 
> *Edit: This story is about as complete as it's ever going to be. I'd planned a much happier ending but I'm afraid my muse died at a rather unfortunate spot.


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